Beautiful Breads
FOUGASSE
Makes: 2 or 3 loaves
For the pre-ferment:
• 300g (2 cups plus 2 tbsp) white bread
flour
• 275g (1 cup plus 2 tbsp) water
• 1 tsp fresh yeast
For the dough:
• 350g (2½ cups) white bread flour
• 250g (1 cup plus 1 tbsp) water
• Scant ½ tsp fresh yeast
• 50g (3½ tbsp) olive oil
• 1 tsp fine table salt
1 Mix the pre-ferment ingredients together,
cover and leave at room temperature
for 12 hours overnight, or until bubbling
vigorously.
2 Add the dough ingredients to the pre-
ferment and knead (“work to an even
consistency” is probably a better term, as
it’s so sloppy) until you have a smooth,
silky, stretchy dough that is very soft but no
over them, pressing the edges together to
seal. Roll the dough out again, fold in half
and roll out once more. If the figs are not
evenly distributed, repeat the process but
be careful not to mush them up completely.
5 Shape the dough into a ball, cover and
leave to prove at room temperature for 1
hour.
6 Give the dough a single fold, cover and
leave to prove for another 2 hours, or until
almost doubled in size.
7 Dust a proving basket well with flour.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured
work surface and shape to fit the basket.
Place the dough seam-side up in the
basket, cover and leave to prove at room
temperature for 1 hour.
8 Heat the oven to 230°C (Gas Mark 8,
450°F) with a baking stone or baking sheet
in place. Turn the dough out onto a peel
and slide it onto the baking stone. Bake
for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down
to 200°C (Gas Mark 6, 400°F) and bake for
a further 20 minutes, checking halfway
through that it is not browning too quickly.
longer sticky. You may find that this dough
is easier to make using a stand mixer with a
dough hook.3 Cover the dough and give it a series of
single folds after 30, 60 and 90 minutes,
then leave to rise for a further 2½–3½
hours, or until it’s puffed up and has huge
bubbles coming to the surface.4 Dust the work surface well with flour
and using an oiled dough scraper, turn the
dough out carefully, trying not to knock out
too many of the bubbles you have (well, the
yeast has) worked hard to make. Divide the
dough into 2 or 3 equal-size pieces, gently
rounding each piece into a ball, then roll one
piece out to an oval about 1.5cm (⅝in) thick.5 Using your dough scraper, cut 3 or 4
angled slots either side of the middle of
the dough to make a leaf-like pattern (see
photo) and open these out slightly. Repeatthe rolling and cutting with the remaining
dough. Cover and leave to prove for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 250°C (Gas
Mark 9, 480°F), or as high as it will go, with
baking stones or baking sheets in place.6 Using a well-floured peel, slide each
fougasse onto a baking stone, then
immediately turn the oven down to 220°C
(Gas Mark 7, 425°F). Bake for 10–15 minutes
until golden.Per 100g
Calories 389, Fat 8.1g, Saturates 1.3g,
Carbohydrates 66g, Sugars 0g, Protein 12g, Salt
0.70g- Recipes and images extracted from Slow Dough real
Bread by Chris Young
Copyright ̋ Watkins Media Limited 2016
Text copyright ̋ Chris Young 2016
Photography copyright ̋ Watkins Media Limited 2016